Exciting and captivating start to the trilogy
I loved Laina and Kyle’s fated mates, wolf shifter romance with a side of danger and magic. The story had the perfect balance of humor, heartwarming love, real life issues, suspense, world building, and spice. This book is part of a trilogy and ends on a kind of cliffhanger with a HFN but the bad guy is still out there. As long as you are aware of that you’ll enjoy the story. Laina is a wolf shifter and royalty within the Firebird pack. She eschews pack politics and is happy being a veterinarian in a small town. Kyle is a human who is the face of Hunt Club, a pseudo-dating social club where the members practice “hunting” the staff who are clad only in body paint. He also has the reputation of a playboy. When his father dies, Kyle takes in his large dog, Milo, which is when his path initially crosses with Laina. There is instant chemistry and attraction between them, almost a mystical pull, but circumstances separate them and then fate pushes them back together again when they are states away from where they initially met. Laina is in hiding from the unhinged and homicidal wolf who killed her parents and, due to circumstances, Laina agrees to “live” with Kyle to train his dog. Their chemistry sizzled off the page and it pulled them together no matter how hard Laina tried to resist. The more time they spend together, the deeper the connection and stronger the pull is but Laina’s standing in her pack forbids mating with a human. This book has a little bit of everything - sweet moments, spicy scenes, exciting action, danger, family dynamics, painful pasts, mystery, evil actors, plot twists, imperfect characters, and even a few chuckles. The book is well written, with witty dialogue, good world building, three dimensional characters, and an engaging storyline. I will be diving into the next book to see what happens next. 4.5 stars.